“Archè 2020 by Francesco Saverio Russo”

a top-quality range of technical glasses, mouth-blown by Italy’s finest master glassmakers

Avalaible on www.archeglass.com

In this difficult period, in which stagnation and fear hold sway, there is an Italy that has not come to a standstill but continues to dream and make its dreams a concrete reality. “Archè 2020 by Francesco Saverio Russo” is just that: a dream turned into reality thanks to passion, technical excellence, and attention to detail.

Just as the elements come together in the creation of an artisanal glass, mouth-blown by the finest master glassmakers, the skills and the professional expertise of VDGlass and of Francesco
Saverio Russo have fused together to make possible Italy’s most ambitious project yet in the category of top-quality wine glasses.

VDGlass, one of the leading companies in innovative glassmaking, has always focused on thorough research in the areas of raw materials, design, production methods, sensory analysis, scientific content, and environmental sustainability.

In 2019, the firm took its first step in the sphere of top-level technical glass making, with the presentation of the Skyline range, devoted to sommeliers, wine producers, enologists, and wine lovers.

From that moment on, demand started to pour in from a market segment previously unexplored by VDGlass: sommeliers and wine connoisseurs, a niche category of clients who are very demanding and attentive to details.

Convinced that it was still not doing enough, the company therefore decided to go even further, aiming for the very highest level in glass making: in other words, abandoning industrial-scale production in favor of the artisanal excellence of mouth-blown glass. The new objective, determined during the first period of lockdown, was immediately clear: to create a line of wine glasses that would become essential for tasting. A product destined for the niche market of professionals and enthusiasts in the world of wine who demand the very best glasses available.

In order to put such an ambitious, all-Italian project into practice, VDGlass immediately thought of an exceptional figure in the wine industry: Francesco Saverio Russo, an expert taster and independent wine writer and a point of reference for anyone wishing to distinguish themselves in terms of quality and competence, and so very similar to VDGlass with regard to his professional and ethical vision. Shortly afterwards, Francesco Saverio Russo came up with his first drafts for the glasses, based on his research on convection currents, and within a few months – in a period when the world was basically marking time – Archè 2020 was ready to be launched: technical excellence in terms of tasting, and the utmost expression
of refined design, with due attention to craftsmanship and sustainability.

Archè2020 includes six top-quality technical glasses in hand-made, mouth-blown crystal glass, for a sensory experience that involves all of one’s senses.

Arché
2020 is the quintessence of design, technology, and craftsmanship.

“My Archè 2020 glasses stem from a study based on a quest for maximum technical performance combined with shapes that are able successfully to pair a classy, aesthetically refined appearance with the possibility of enjoying a unique sensory experience. My objective never was to create an instrument that “improves” the wine. My wish is to put the taster in direct contact with the contents, giving rise to a sort of physical metonymy, in which a “wine glass” does not represent the glass itself, but rather everything that it contains (i.e. a “glass of wine”).” F.S.R.

“Archè 2020 represents for us the essence of which the glasses are made: the exact point in which the 4 elements, Earth, Fire, Air and Water, come together – thanks to the skillful and studied efforts of the most
expert master glassmakers, in order to make the best glasses in the world.” 

Luana Rossi, Project Manager, Archè 2020

These are the six “Archè 2020” glasses designed by Francesco Saverio Russo:

“Metodi”, the name itself seeks to represent a bond between all the types of sparkling wine: Ancestral Method, Traditional Method and Charmat/Martinotti Method. This is a glass that will offer an impeccable technical performance with these various kinds of wine without, though, any sort of compromise. Lightness, cleanness, and clarity of expression.

“Genio” signifies an attitude and talent resulting from a natural predisposition, but also from a wealth of experience. And that is exactly what we wanted to create: a glass originating from a “brilliant” idea, which has shown itself to perform very successfully with many types of wine. Finesse, technical perfection, and versatility.

“Orange & Rosé” is the first glass in the world designed and made to perform at its best with high-quality macerated white wines and rosés, with the aim of giving even more importance to these two types of wine that have become so much in vogue in Italy and around the world in the last few years. Creativity, uniqueness, and contemporary flair.

“Suggestioni in Bianco” is a glass that rewards the taster’s senses with the pure aromas and flavors of great Italian and foreign white wines, allowing you to take long, slow breaths, preserving all of the wine’s fragrance and preventing it from oxidizing. Gracefulness, depth, and elegance.

“Emozioni in Rosso” represents the culmination of a process made up of thousands of tastings with different glasses, seeking always to take our senses and sensations that little bit further. Thanks to this glass you don’t have to try that hard, because you will already be where you should – and want to – be, with your senses and with your mind. Passion, precision, and respect.

“Lieto Fine” is a tribute to all those wines (and other drinks…) that can gladden the end of a good dinner, or help
us unwind after a day’s work and enjoy a moment of leisure and relaxation. A glass that will not go unnoticed. Beauty, harmony, and contemplation.

This is a top-quality line that is entirely hand-made and therefore made up of one-off, limited-production pieces. It is already amazing people with its technical performance and its aesthetic appeal.